Enjoying Mallorca’s sea is a privilege. Caring for it is a duty. This guide gathers what to do and not to do for anyone practising paddle surf, kayak, snorkel or any coastal sport on the island. Concrete and practical, not preaching.
Posidonia: the Mediterranean’s lung
The Posidonia oceanica meadows are the most valuable ecosystem of the Balearic Mediterranean. It’s a plant — not an algae — that takes decades to grow, oxygenates water, fixes sediment and shelters fish and invertebrates. Without posidonia, the famous transparent water of Mallorca disappears.
The meadows are UNESCO World Heritage in the Pitiusas area and protected across the Balearics. A single yacht anchor manoeuvre on posidonia can rip out a chunk that takes 100 years to regrow.
Protected species
- Loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta): keep distance, don’t touch. Wounded? Call 112.
- Cetaceans (bottlenose dolphin, pilot whale): legal minimum distance of 60 m.
- Monk seal: functionally extinct in the Balearics, occasional sightings. Report to IBANAT if seen.
- Pen shell (Pinna nobilis): critically endangered giant mollusc. Don’t touch.
Anchoring: where yes, where no
SUP doesn’t anchor, but if you’re on a boat or PWC: never drop anchor on posidonia. Sandy bottom shows light and uniform from the surface. Posidonia looks dark with patches. If unsure, don’t anchor there. Eco-buoys exist in Pollensa, Cabrera, Es Trenc and other zones.
Plastics and sunscreen
- Always carry a small bag on the board and pick up plastic. In a 30-min paddle around a cove you’ll usually see 5-10 pieces. Picking them up adds up.
- Use reef-safe sunscreen (no oxybenzone, no octinoxate). Conventional creams are toxic to coral and young posidonia.
SUP best practices
- Don’t paddle over shallow posidonia (under 1 m) — the paddle can rip stems.
- Don’t disembark on vegetated dunes, use boardwalks.
- Don’t feed fish.
- Keep distance from swimmers and other water users.
- If you stay overnight on a cove, leave zero trace: no fires, no rubbish, no urine on sand.
Local initiatives
Save Posidonia Project, GOB Mallorca, Vellmarí Association, Plogging Mallorca. Any club or school should know these and join at least one cleanup per year.
What we do
At El Niño Surf Center we participate actively: freshwater board rinse to avoid invasive species transport, brief on posidonia for every client, plastic pickup on every guided session, reef-safe sunscreen available. Not green marketing — minimum if you live off the sea.
If you’re on a free route with rented gear we ask the same. To join a local cleanup, message us via contact.
Conclusion
Paddle surf and efoil have a minimal footprint when done right. Use that advantage. Mallorca is not a theme park: it’s a living ecosystem we’ve been squeezing for decades. Every gesture counts.
Related: what is an efoil and our lessons.
More info: GOB Mallorca.